Cushion-frame for bicycles.



no MODEL.

PATENTED SEPT. 15, 1903. G. L. TRAVIS, DEG'D.

A. B. TRAVIS. ADIINISTRATRIX.

CUSHION FRAME FOR BIGYGLES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28, 1901."

' 2 SHEETS-BHIQET 1.

No. 739,034.' PATENTED SEPT. 15, 1903.

- 0. L. TRAVIS, DEGD.

A. E. TRAVIS, ADKINISTBATRIX. CUSHION FRAME FOR BIGYGLES. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28. 1901.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

m "lull": r1I:lllmlmllillllllllllll lllmlllll |||||||||wI:lllllllfllltllllllllllll||||||||l|l UNITED STATES" Patented September 15, 1903.

PATENT ()FFICE.

CHARLES L. TRAVIS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA; ANGIE E. TRAVIS,

ADMINISTRATRIX OF SAID CHARLES L. TRAVIS, DECEASED, AS- SIGNOR TO HYGIENIO WHEEL COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA. I.

CUSHION-FRAME FOR BICYCLES,

- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 739,034, dated September 15, 1903.

Application filed January 28, 1901. Serial No. 44,961. (No model.)

To EtZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. TRAVIS, a citizen of the United States of America, re-

siding at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cushion- Frames for Bicycles, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to bicycle-frame con- A factory, mainly because of a lack'of sufi"1- cient lateral rigidity, as it is obvious that the rear fork, whose separate ends are pivotally connected to the crank-hanger, will not possess the stiffness of a fork whose ends are united by a member which part of the fork.

The object of this invention is to provide a construction in which the objections above referred to are entirely overcome, a further object being to construct a frame from which the rear-wheel fork, the crank-hanger, and the vertical rear-wheel brace may be removed, whereby the length of a bicycle when packed for shipment may be very greatly reduced; and the invention consists in the construction described in the following specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings the invention has been shown as applied to the so-called chainless type of bicycle-frame; but obviously it is equally applicable to the ordinary 'chaindriven machine.'

Figure l is a side elevation of a cushionframe embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken on line 2 2, Fig. 1, this forms an integral figure and the following figure being shown on a much larger scale than Fig. 1. Fig. 3

is a side elevation of a crank-hanger and certain parts of the frame contiguous thereto, .the latter being shown in section on line 3 3,

theunder side of a member which unites the ends of two of the frame members of the crank-hanger. Fig. 9 is a top. plan view of the crank-hanger, and Fig. 10 represents the frame-uniting member and two ends of theframe members in'separated relations to more clearly illustrate the manner of assembling the parts. Fig. 11 is' a vertical section on line 11 11 looking either toward or from the observer. Fig. 12 is a plan view of a modification.

The drawings from Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, show the application of the invention to a machine driven from a gear located centrally of the crank-hanger, and Figs. 7 to 11, inclusive, show the invention applied to a machine driven from a gear located in the side of the crank-hanger. This arrangement is devoid of any special significance, as the construction shown on the center drive is equally applicable to the side drive, and vice versa.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 represents an ordinary type of a cushion-frame with the exception of the construction of that portion thereof located at the crank-hanger. As ordinarily constructed the'frame members -a and b are united with the crank-hanger substantially in the position shown by being brazed to projections thereon or in a number of other ways, and, as stated above, the rear fork c is ordinarily hinged to the crankhanger in some manner, whereby when the rear brace d .is shortened and lengthened by reason of the movement of the telescoping members 6 thereof the rear fork o and the rear wheel may have more or less movement in a vertical plane. The disadvantages of this construction have already been spoken of, and they are obviated in this construction, in which said rear fork is secured rigidly to the crank-hanger by being brazed or otherwise secured to the project-ions f and g. With these ends of the rear fork thus united when the rear-wheel axle is secured in the rear end of the fork the latter, being tied together rigidly at both ends, forms an exceedingly stiff brace and one well adapted to withstand lateral as well as vertical strains.

In frames adapted to the center-driving type the crank-hanger (indicated by h) is constructed with a central gear-receiving chamber t', and on the upper side of this chamber is located a bladej, about centrally between the ends of the crank-hanger and vertically at right angles with the axis thereof. The lower ends of the-members a and b of the frame are united by a hollow bridge-piece k. (Shown in perspective in Fig. 5.) This may be made of any suitable metal, as malleable iron, or it may be forged, as desired. Said bridge-piece is provided with suitable enlargements Z at each end thereof, to which the members a and b may be secured by brazing or otherwise. Said bridge-piece 7c is preferably curved to conform to the general outline of the crank-hanger 7L and is chambered to receive the bladej. Said blade after being fitted in said chamber is secured therein by a bolt m passing through from one side of the chamber to the other, having a jamnut on the opposite end. This screw forms the pivot on which the rear fork and the attached crank-hanger may swing in a vertical plane. The sides of the blade and the side walls of the chamber within the piece 7c,which receives the blade, are made to fit closely,

whereby while an oscillatory movement of the blade on its pivot within the chamber is easily effected there can be no rocking movement laterally of the crank-hanger relative to the frame. Said parts by reason of the above-described closely-fitting blade form a rigid structure as far as lateral strains are concerned, but one in which movements in the plane of the frame are permitted to the members (I and 0 thereof to a greater or less extent.

Another important advantage derived from the above construction lies in the fact that by removing the bolt on and disconnecting the upper end of the member d of the frame the rear wheel and all parts of the propelling mechanism may be removed from the frame without disturbing the adjustment of said propelling mechanism in any way. Thus the length of the machine may be reduced by about fifty percent. andis rendered relatively Very portable compared with a'machine boxed or crated in the usual manner. This takedown characteristic of a geard riven bicycle is possible only because of the rigid connection between the rear-wheel fork and the crank-hanger, whereby the cranks and their driving connection with the rear wheel may be bodily removed from the frame of the machine and replaced again without altering the adjustment of said driving connections. This is a very important feature.

Instead of constructing the bladej to fit the walls of the bridge-piece 7t accurately enough space may be left between the walls of the blade and the chamber to receive on each side of the blade a row of steel balls 71, whereby the relative movements of the blade within said bridge-piece may be made as easily as possible. These balls are on one side of the chamber located in rings concentric in the pivotal connection 0 and between the blade and the wall of said chamber and on the opposite side of the blade in similarlylocated grooves, one in the side of the blade and the other in an annular nutp, (shown in Figs. 2 and 6,) and which is screwed into a suitable threaded opening in the side of the bridge-piece 7c concentric with the pivot o. This annular nut may be screwed up bya spanner to take up any lateral play which may be found between the blade and the interior walls of the chamber. The bolt m, after passing through one wall of the bridge-piece 7c and the blade j, screws through the center of the annular nut 13, and a jam-nut on the bolt m serves as a check-nut for said annular nut, as well as for said bolt. The movement of the bladej relative to the bridge-piece 7c is comparatively slight, and these ball-bearings may be omitted, if desired.

To prevent the rattling or jumping of the parts constituting the loose members or movable members of the frame, one edge of the bladej, as shown in Fig. 3, may be notched to receive a spring q, located in one of the projections at the end of the bridge-piece It; and bearing against the closed end of said projection and against the blade This spring q is located forward of the axis of the rear-wheel fork c and is so located that it may force the rear end thereof upward, and thus hold the telescoping parts e of the rear brace in contact with the ends of the usual spring with which said parts are provided.

To the end that the crank-hanger h may swing freely it will be observed by reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings that the bridge-piece 70 when in operative position does not at its lower edge come quite into touch with the surface of the chamber?) of said hanger and that the upper part of the blade is also free from contact with the upper part of the chamber within said bridge-piece.

It is apparent in the above construction that a change of endwise dimension in the rear brace 01, as described, will produce an oscillatory motion of the crank-hanger about the pivotal connection 0, extending through the bladej and the bridge-piece it". Thus all parts of the driving mechanism supported in the crank-hanger h and on the rear fork 0 will move as one piece. Obviously the pivotal connection 0 must bear the thrust of the riders feet on the crank of the propelling mechanism; but it does not bear to any great extent, owing to the truss shape of the frame, the weight of the rider, which is supported mainly on the two wheels of the vehicle.

From the above description it is seen that the bridge-piece k, which unites the lower end of the members a and b of the frame and which receives the blade 3', is made in one piece and then routed out to receive sai blade;

In Figs. 7 to 11, inclusive, is shown a modification of this construction in which said bridge-piece is made in two hollow parts which are subsequently secured together and secured to the lower ends of the frame members a and b, as is the bridge-piece k. Said modified construction consists in making the bridge-piece k (or which is in this construction equivalent to said bridge-piece) in the manner shown in Fig. particularly, and it consists in striking out of sheet metal or in forging said bridge-piece in two halves r, the

line of division lying in the plane of the longitudinal center of the chamber which receives the blade 3'. These two parts 1- when placed together, as shown in Fig. 10, constitute practically the same construction as the bridge-piece it, save for the projections on the ends of the latter, to which the frame members are secured. In this modified construction the lower ends of the members a and b of the frame are slotted to receive the two members 1', the opposite ends of the latter lying flush with the outer surface of the two members a and b. The sliding of the tubular frame members over this bridge-piece in the manner described would of course leave the ends of the tube lying on each side of said bridge-piece open at their lower ends, which would leave an unfinished appearance to the structure. To give the required finish to the end of the tubular frame members and also to strengthen the attachment between the bridge-piece 7c and the ends of the frame members, a piece s-(shown particularly in Figs. 10 and 11) is secured to each side of the members 1 in such manner that when the frame members a and b are fitted over the two parts 1' of the bridge-piece It said open ends of the frameparts will rest upon a shoulder 15 of said pieces 3, a flange u thereof projecting up inside of the said members, as shown in Fig. 11. These parts all having been fitted together and pinned in the usual manner are brazed, and thus the two parts 7' are brazed together and to the frame members a and b, and the pieces 8 areat the same time brazed to the sides of the two parts 'r of the bridge-piece and to the said members a and 1). Thus when the structure .is completed it is, in effect, the same as the bridge-piece shown in Fig. 1, except that by reason of the method of uniting the frame members'a and b to the bridge-piece scribed herein as of a certain construction,

its particular shape as described is not an essential and might be widely varied. For example, instead of having a single blade, as

shown in Fig. 9, said blade might consist of two or three narrow blades parallel one with the other, as shown in Fig. 12, and the bridgepiece It modified in its construction to receive the blades of the construction as thus described.

Both the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 6 and that shown in Figs. 7 to 11 constitute practically a mortise joint (which permits more or less play in the plane of said joint) between the crank-hanger and the frame of the machine, and any modification of the construction described herein which would constitute practically such a joint would come within the scope of this invention,'for by means of such a joint only is it possible to obtain in a construction of this character both cheaply and efficiently the objects of this invention-via, great rigidity of the frame as a whole in one plane and a free though limited swinging movement of parts of the frame in a plane at right angles to the first.

Whether the bridge-piece be made, as

shown, in a single piece or in two pieces itconstitutes a perfect shield for the bearingsurfaces within it against the entrance of either mud or dust, and thus prevents the excessive wear which exposed bearings would be subjected to, and at the same time prevents the entrance of water.

No claim is herein made to the combination in a bicycle-frame of a yielding rear brace, a rear-wheel fork pivotally connected to said brace, a crankhanger rigidly secured to said fork, and a pivotal connection between said hanger and the frame, as said matter, generically and specifically'considered, forms the basis of a divisional application filed on or about the 26th day of December, 1901, Serial No. 87,276.

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-.-

1. In a bicycle, the combination of a removable rear-wheel brace; a removable rearwheel fork; a crank-hanger rigidly securedto the latter; and a rigid blade extending upwardly from said hanger and forming the sole means for pivotal connection to the front frame.

2. In a bicycle, the combination of a rigid front frame; a removable rear-wheel fork; a crank-hanger rigidly secured to said fork; and a single pivotal connection between said ICC 4. In a bicycle-frame, the combination with two members thereof, as a and b, which converge toward the crank-hanger, of a bridgepiece independent of the crank-hanger for uniting the lower ends of said members, said bridge-piece having a chamber therein, as and for the purpose described.

CHARLES L. TRAVIS.

Witnesses:

WM. H. CHAPIN, FREDERICK R. R001. 

